Draft gear



Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. REGAN, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR-TO 'rrrEMccoNwAY& TORLEY COMPANY, or rrrrsmmen, PENNSYLVANIA, A coaroa 'rioN or PENN-SYLVANIA.

DRAFT GEAR.

Application filed May 9,

My invention relates to draft gear for railway cars and has for itsobject to provide cessed or bifurcated rear end extending be tween saidarms, a follower having a forwardly extending slotted tongue disposed ininterleaved relation to the bifurcated end of the coupler, and a pinpassing through the yoke device, coupler and follower, the pin being sorelated to the follower tongue that Q itis in double shear at thebeginning of a draft movement of the coupler and in quad-- ruple shearat the end of such draft movement.

A further feature of the invention consists in constructing a draft gearwith a yoke device having a friction casing and a plu-. rality ofslotted arms integrally united to said casing and extending forwardlytherefrom, and in combining therewith a car coupler whose rear end isreceived between the arms, a follower movably, mounted between said armsin advance of the casing and having a forwardly extending projectionprovided with a curved bearing face. and means for pivotally connectingthe coupler and said yoke device, the rear end of said coupler beingcurved curved bearing face upon the follower.

Other features of. invention, residing in particular combinations ofparts and details of construction will hereinafter appear and be pointedout in the claims. In the drawings illustrating the preferred form ofthe invention,

Figure 1 is a plan view of draft gear embodying the invention showingitsrelation to the stationary parts of the car with which it is associated.

Figure 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal central section of a portion of the device.

and adapted to engage the 1923. Serial No. 637,807

yoke device with which it is associated. This yoke device, which is mostadvantageously formed as an integral casting, is preferably constructedwth a hollow casing. portion 3 made of any desired size or form suitablefor receiving and cooperating with springs and friction elements housedthereby, the draft gear members that are located within the casing andwhich are operatively interposed bctween the rear end of the latter andtransverse section the longitudinally'movable follower t beingdiagrammatically indicated by the diagonally 1 extending dotted lines 5in'a conventional manner. A Integrally united to said casing tendingforwardly therefrom are a pair of yoke arms 6 adapted to overlap therearend of the coupler 1 on opposite sides there;v

of. The arms are respectively rovided with apertures 7 for receiving thepin 8 by which the car coupler is connected. to the yoke device, thesaid apertures preferably being in the form of slots permitting the saidpin to travel rearwardly therein when the coupler is subjected tobuffing in service and,

the said pin preferably constituting a pivot-w The arms 6 mayadvantageously be integral-'- ly united at their forward ends onopposite or walls 9, thus providing in conjunction with the said arms 6a forwardly flaring recess adapted to receive the rear endof the carcoupler and permit lateral swinging thereof. a

The inner end of the coupler 1 is bifurcated to forma rearwardly openingrecess 10 for receiving a-tongue 11 with which the sides by forwardlydiverging tie members 1 stem 1, the said projection being fashioned atits outer end upon opposite sides of the follower tongue 11 withcurved-bearing surfaces or seats 15 which are respectively adapted tocooperate with the correspondingly curved bearing faces 13 of thecoupler. The tongue 11 which is integrally united to the follower 4projects forwardly beyond the butting bearings 15 and enters the recess10 at the rear end of the coupler stem, thus being associated with thesaid stem in interleaved relation. The tongue 11 is provided with alongitudinally extending slot 16 through which the pivot pin 8 passes,the said slot being of such length that the pivot pin 8. reaches the endvthereof and communicates draft strains to the follower 4 when thecoupler 1 is pulled forward in draft to or substantially to the limit ofdraft gear movement. During a bufling movement the coupler and followermove rearwardlytogether and the pivot pin 8-does not slide in the slot16 of the follower tongue, but during said movement the pivot pin slidesrearwardly in the slots 7 of the yoke arms 6, thus permitting thecoupler and its abutting follower to move rearwardly with respect to theyokedevice. The laterally project-ing ends of the follower 4respectively cooperate with suitable follower stops 17 which are'rigidlysecured to the center sills 'or draft sills 18 of the car. Thesefollower stops form abutments for preventing forward movement of thefollower when the coupler is pulled out in draft. Rearward movement ofthe yoke device 2 in butting is preferably prevented by .a back stopmember or abutment 19 extending between and secured to the sills 18 andadapted to engage the rear end ofthe casing portion 3 of the said vokedevice. The

follower stops 17 and the back stop 19 are preferably integrally unitedto form a unitary draft casting by means of bars or plates 20 which mayclosely border the casing 3 of, the yoke deviceso as to maintain theposition and operative alinelnent of the latter. p v

The pivot pin or tail pin 8 is preferably inserted'from below and mayadvantageously be supported by a bolt 21 runnin'g lengthwise of the yokedevice and passing through perforated lugs 22 which are preferably castintegral with the lower yoke arm 6 of the yoke device. A cotter 23serves to retain the bolt 21 in assembled position.

In bufiing the coupler 1 forces the follower 4 rearwardly while the yokedevice,

which bears at its rear end against the back and the yoke device isdrawn forward with the coupler, thus again actuating the cushioningelements interposed between the follower and the yoke device. At thebeginning of the draft movement of the coupler 1 the pivot pin 8 travelsforwardly in the slot 16 of the follower tongue 11 and the pin acts indouble shcarythe shearing sections thereof being in the planespassingbetween the stem of the coupler and the yoke arms 6. But when thecoupler has been pulled forward to the limit of draft gear movement ornearly so,the central portion of the pivot pin 8 pulls against thefollower tongue 11 and thus calls into play two addi tional shearingareas of the pin, thereby placing the pin in quadruple shear andtransmitting an uncushioned portion of the draft strain to thedraft-lugs or follower" stops 17 directly through the follower 4. Bythis means the strength ofthe pivotal connection of the coupler to theyoke device is greatly enhanced to resist maximum strains. 7 I y Myinvention renders it practicable to provide a draft gear with a combineddraft yoke and friction casing formed as an integral casting. Vithin thelimits of space allowed in car construction the friction'cas ing may bemade of comparatively great device and adapted to be actuated by and tobe movable with respect to a car coupler associated therewith, and meansextending ,through said follower for connecting the coupler to said yokedevice, a portion of said coupler being adapted to be interposed betweensaid follower and said yoke device.

2. A draft gear involving a yoke device. a follower'movable with respectto said yoke device and adapted tobe actuated by'a car couplerassociated therewith, said coupler having a bifurcated rear end, andmeans extending through said followerfor movably connecting said yokedevice to the coupler,

I said follower having a slotted'tongue adapted to project into thebifurcated end of said coupler and through which said means ex tends.

3. A draft gear involving a yoke device, a follower adapted to beactuated by a car coupler ,upon a buiiing movement thereof, and meansinterposed between and slidably connecting said follower and coupler forcausing uncushioned draft strains to be transmitted to said followerfrom sa1d coupler after a predetermined movement of said coupler. v

4. A draft-gear involving a yoke device, av follower movable withrespect to said yoke, a car coupler, and; a pin connecting said yokedevice, follower and coupler, said fol lower being provided with anelongated slot for receiving said pint-o permit the latter to move atpredetermined distance with re .spect to said follower in the directionof draft movement of the coupler.

a a simultaneously movable in the slots of said.

5. A draft gear involving a yoke device having. a plurality of slottedarms, a car coupler extending between said arms. a folarms and? in saidfollower slot.

, opening recess,

6. A draft gear involving a yoke device having 'a plurality of slottedarms,- acoupler having a stem provided with a rearwardly a followerhaving a slotted tongueextending into said recess, and a pivot pinpassing through said coupler and the slot of said tongue and havinghrough its oppos1te-ends projecting into. the slots of 'said arms. V

"TI-H7; A draft gear involving a yoke device having a pluarilty of armsadapted to receive a car coupler between them. a car coupler having astem provided with a rearwardly opening recess, afollower having aslotted tongue extending into said recess,

and a pivot pin passing through said slot for'pivotallv'connecting saidcoupler to said f a I- I I follower and said-arms, said pm bemg movablein; saidislot a;;predetermined distance when the "cou 'aler issubjectedto draft.

8. A draft gear involving a yoke device, a

a slotted tongue throughfwhich said pin ex e tends and having onoppositesides of -tongue curved shoulders adapted to forin follower, acar coupler adapted to mqve said follower in bufiing, and a pin for pvotally connectingfsaid coupler, yoke device and follower, said'followerbeing provided with portions of said coupler, and said' buffing bearingsfor the rear, end of said coupler.

9. A draft gear involving a yoke device having a-forwardly flaringrecess adapted to receive the rear end of a car'coupler, a follower, acal-[coupler extending into said recess and adapted to actuate saidfollower in bufling, and a pinfor pivotally connecting said yoke deviceand coupler; said coupler and follower being provided with interleavedportions through which said pin extends.

10.- A draft gear involving a yokedevice, a car coupler, a followermovable with respect to said yoke device and adapted to be actuated bysaid coupler in butting. and a pin operatively associated with saidcoupler,

voke device and follower, said pin being adapted to afford greatershearing area'to resist draft strains at the end of a draft movement ofthe coupler than at the beginning ofsuch draft movement a 11. A draftgear involving a yoke device provided with arms adapted to receive therear end of a car coupler'betweenthem, a car coupler having a bifurcatedrear end extending between said arms, a follower having a slottedtonguedisposed in interleaved relation to the bifurcatedend ofsaidcoupler, and a pin extending through said voke device, coupler andfollower, said pin at the beginning of a draft movement of 1' saidcoupler being in'double shear and at the end of the draft movement ofsaid coupler .being in quadruple shear;

12. A draft gear involving a yoke device ..having a friction casing anda plurality of' 1 arms integrally connected to said casing and extendingforwardly therefrom and adapted to receive the rear end of a car couplerbetween them, a follower movably mounted between said arms in advance ofsaid casing,

tie members spaced from the forward end of said casmg and integrallyunit ng said arms, and means for connecting said yoke device andcoupler, said follower being provided Y with: a forwardly extendingprojection formmg a butting bearing for said coupler and having inadvance of said bufling bearing a I tringue adapted to be connected-to acar ooner.

13. A draft gear involving a yoke device having a friction casing and aplurality of arms integrally united to said, casing and extend ngforwardly therefrom and adapted jto receive the. rear end of a carcouplervbetweeii them, a follower movably mounted betweeusaid arms-inadvance of said casing and having a forwardly-extending projectionprovided with a forwardly facing curved surface and also having a'tongueextending forwardly from said curved surface, a car coupler adapted tobe connected to said tongue and having a curved bearing face at its'rear end adapted to cooperate with the curved surface, oft saidfollower, and means for plvotally connecting said coupler and aldyokedevice.

' 14. A draft gear involving a yoke device,

' a car coupler, a follower movable with respect to said voke andadapted to be actuated by said coupl er in bulfing, and a pin adapted tocommunicate draft force from said couler to said yoke and follower, saidpin bemg adapted to operate in double shear and also in quadruple shear.

15. A draft gear involving a yoke device,

a car coupler, a follower movable with respect to said yoke andadaptedto be actu-' ated by said coupler in buffing, and means mo'vablyconnecting said coupler and fol- \VILLIAM J. REGAN.

